e to the facile graces of the Neapolitan school,
still awaited the composer who should strike off her chains and renew
the youth of her national art; while Germany, among the crowds of
imitators who clung to the skirts of Mozart's mantle, could not produce
one worthy to follow in his steps. Yet though French opera embodied the
finest thought and aspiration of the day, it is only just to observe
that the impetus which impelled her composers upon new paths of progress
came largely from external sources. It is curious to note how large a
share foreigners have had in building up the fabric of French opera.
Lulli, Gluck, and Cherubini in turn devoted their genius to its service.
They were followed by Spontini (1774-1851), who in spite of chauvinistic
prejudice, became, on the production of 'La Vestale' in 1807, the most
popular composer of the day. Spontini's training was Neapolitan, but his
first visit to Paris showed him that there was no place upon the French
stage for the trivialities which still delighted Italian audiences. He
devoted himself to careful study, and his one-act opera 'Milton,' the
first-fruits of his musicianship, showed a remarkable advance upon his
youthful efforts. Spontini professed an adoration for Mozart which
bordered upon idolatry, but his music shows rather the influence of
Gluck. He is the last of what may be called the classical school of
operatic composers, and he shows little trace of the romanticism which
was beginning to lay its hand upon music. He was accused during his
lifetime of overloading his operas with orchestration, and of writing
music which it was impossible to sing--accusations which sound strangely
familiar to those who are old enough to remember the reception of Wagner
in the seventies and eighties. His scores would not sound very elaborate
nowadays, nor do his melodies appear unusually tortuous or exacting, but
he insisted upon violent contrasts from his singers as well as from his
orchestra, and the great length of his operas, a point in which he
anticipated Meyerbeer and Wagner, probably reduced to exhaustion the
artists who were trained on Gluck and Mozart. 'La Vestale' was followed
in 1809 by 'Fernand Cortez,' and in 1819 by 'Olympie,' both of which
were extremely successful, the latter in a revised form which was
produced at Berlin in 1821. Spontini's operas are now no longer
performed, but the influence which his music exercised upon men so
different as Wagner and Meyerbe